Anderson County Council member named in wrongful-death suit

Pedestrian Elizabeth Walsh, 70, died after being hit by several vehicles near this intersection on South Murray Avenue on Nov. 4, 2010.

ANDERSON - An Anderson County Council member has been accused of committing fraud to cover up his role in a November 2010 accident in which a 70-year-old woman was killed.

Council member Eddie Moore is being sued and faces a wrongful-death claim brought against him by family members of Elizabeth Walsh.

Walsh's family is seeking more than $5 million, according to the lawsuit.

Moore says he is not responsible for the woman's death. Walsh died Nov. 4, 2010, after being struck by multiple vehicles along a four-lane stretch of South Murray Avenue in Anderson. The accident happened shortly before 7:30 p.m.

Walsh had been shopping at Quality Foods and Bi-Lo and was pushing a cart filled with groceries and trying to walk back to her home on Masters Drive. She was about 100 yards from her house in Homeland Park when she was killed.

Jesse Oliver of Iva, the driver of the first vehicle that struck Walsh, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

Moore was in a Lincoln Navigator behind Oliver's Toyota Camry, according to records from the South Carolina Highway Patrol's multidisciplinary accident investigation team.

"He said that he did not see the pedestrian and the Toyota collide, but saw the pedestrian lying in the road just before he struck her and he swerved to try to miss the pedestrian," according to the Highway Patrol record. "He stated that his attention was pulled away by a van off the shoulder of the road that appeared to be stuck."

A Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Tony William Kelley, behind Moore, then went through the scene and dragged Walsh's body 100 feet. A fourth car, a Saturn, rear-ended the Grand Prix.

Anderson attorney Tom Dunaway, a former city council member, filed the suit against Moore in 2011 but amended his claim two months ago to accuse Moore of fraud in the case.

In a July 3, 2012, court filing, Dunaway says Moore "provided false information about the condition of his vehicle directly after the wreck" and also gave false information to a mechanic who looked at his sport utility vehicle after the accident.

Reached by phone Saturday, Moore said the lawsuit "is in mediation right now."

Asked if he feels that he was responsible for Walsh's death, Moore said: "No."

"I can't really talk about it," Moore said.

He called the Independent Mail office a few minutes later and stated in a voicemail that he did not want to comment on the case and that all questions should be referred to his lawyer, Greenville attorney David Rheney.

"We don't think Mr. Moore is liable in the accident or in Mrs. Walsh's death," Rheney said Monday. "We do not believe he was negligent in any manner."

Rheney said he would not comment on the fraud allegation levied against Moore and would not comment further on the case.

"I'm not going to try the case in the newspaper," he said.

Court records indicate that Moore took the Navigator to CMS Garage and Service Center at 1219 S. Main St. in Anderson the day after Walsh was killed.

Steve Moon, who owns the business, said in an interview Monday that Moore told him that he might have run over a shopping cart and that he wanted Moon to inspect the bottom of his vehicle.

Moon put the vehicle on a lift, according to an affidavit that he signed Feb. 15, 2012.

"I saw no evidence that the vehicle had made contact with anything in this accident," he said in his February affidavit.

But Moon said he withdrew his sworn statement after Dunaway provided him with excerpts from a Feb. 22, 2012, deposition of a South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper.

In the deposition, the trooper said that tissue was found in the fender well on the right side of the Navigator, Moon said.

The trooper also said that blood was found on the right side of the Navigator's bumper, Moon said.

The trooper said in his deposition that Moore told him on the night of the accident that he intended to wash the Navigator before returning home, Moon said.

Moon said Monday that Moore did not tell him that the Navigator had been washed when he brought the vehicle to his shop the day after the accident.

"I did not know that the car had been washed and cleaned up," Moon said Monday.

"I try to be truthful," Moon said.

Moon said that after learning Moore had washed the SUV before bringing it to his shop, the mechanic felt he had to withdraw his original affidavit.

"There is no way I could stand behind that," he said.

Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said that, on the basis of his investigation, "It is impossible to state which of the vehicles striking Ms. Walsh ... was responsible for her demise."Dunaway said the insurance companies for Oliver and Kelley have already settled with Walsh's estate. No claims were filed against the driver of the fourth car, the Saturn.

Dunaway said he is working to schedule a mediation meeting with Moore's attorney in hopes of reaching a settlement in the case.